Realizing
by Little Blue Owl
Summary: It was a long road; and certainly not something he ever expected, but nevertheless, it had happened. Her name was already etched into his heart. Mai x Naru oneshot


Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, its plots, or characters, etc., etc.

AN: Oh look, I'm crawling back to these two. I've watched this show twice and I still can't get over how addictive it is. Anyways, this is basically a set of moments during and after the canon, following through with Naru leaving after he finds Gene's body. It's basically mindless fluff. Enjoy.

Realizing

To say it had caught him off guard was an understatement. It had thrown him from his usual reality and dangled him by one foot over a particularly steep cliff, threatening to drop him at any moment if he didn't act on it. He, of course, didn't, under the pretenses that telling her would ruin the professional relationship between them but moreover that he was not and had never been the sentimental one of the twins and was likely to never say anything at all.

He assumed it might go away after awhile, that he was just particularly tired after a long day's exorcisms and research, but he wasn't fooling himself. Even Lin couldn't help from passing him curious looks whenever he looked at her for too long.

It wasn't as though something had happened between him and her, it had been a weird rush of realization. Right in the middle of an investigation when she was comforting a scared young woman it flooded onto him; how sweet and sensitive she was, putting others in front of herself, never blaming him for his numerous flaws and mistakes. His face had uncharacteristically flushed and he ran to base on the pretenses that he needed to do some research (which was true, and only partially just a convenience to run away from her).

He couldn't stand it. It racked his brain when he saw her, made his heart pound whenever she was in danger, made him feel bad for always being so harsh when she was so kind- it was killing him. He hated her. He hated this distraction she was causing without even trying. Three months he spent trying to find out how to evade it, but to no avail. Her name had already been etched into his heart.

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When he realized he loved her, it caught him truly off guard. One afternoon in October, about a year and a half after he had hired her in that old schoolhouse, she stood talking to Takigawa and Miss Matsuzaki in the corner about their ideas for what was happening in the home. He watched by the corner with eyes full of interest, studying her, trying to figure out what it was that wouldn't leave him alone about her, when Lin turned around in his seat and spoke to him quietly.

"Why do you keep staring at her?" He said it more curiously than anything, and suddenly he realized that he had indeed been watching Mai more than usual lately.

"No reason," he said calmly, attempting to settle the matter like that, but he could tell his assistant wasn't convinced as he turned back to his camera views.

He looked back over to her and she and Miss Matsuzaki were laughing at something Takigawa had said, him smiling good-naturedly at the young women. Suddenly it all made sense, she was perfect like that, just laughing in the face of danger and horrible things, being hopeful. He felt a small smile on his face and attempted to extinguish it, but she saw before he managed that. Her eyes widened slightly and she smiled back sweetly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

He had to turn around so she wouldn't see him go completely red.

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He had grown accustomed to the idea once he first kissed her. She been messing around with something dangerous in the attempts to help out again and had succeeded in getting herself into a load of trouble. Naturally, the most important thing on his mind was to go rescue her.

He had run through the halls with all of his speed and intensity, his breath shallow and his heart pounding, calling for her with every other step. He came into the room surrounded by evil spirits and there she was, right in the middle, getting grabbed and scratched by all of them. She screamed out to him and suddenly Monk was behind him, chanting to get the spirits away, and John behind him, a very worried expression on his face. He suddenly became very aware with the fact that this was serious danger she was in, and his eyes widened.

He knew better than to interfere, though, so he stood back, his heart pounding, his brain screaming at her to be safe. He had already lost his own brother; he certainly wasn't going to let her go, too.

He hadn't realized the spirits were gone until Mai was standing up slowly, her leg bent weirdly from the force of the spirits grabbing at it. He heard Monk and John sigh in relief, and he let himself do so, too, quietly. But no sooner had he done it than she had tripped and fallen towards the scratched wooden ground, where he quickly sprang forward to catch her.

Thankfully he had been more skilled than the others at having quick reflexes, for Mai was in his arms looking up at him, blushing fiercely and thanking him, but her words were drowned by his own mind buzzing with activity and relief. And before he knew it his lips were on hers, and she was surprised but suddenly kissed him back, and he held her tightly out of sheer relief that she was okay, and they were dimly aware of Monk laughing and John smiling happily behind them because she was safe and that was all that mattered.

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The first time he woke up next to her he was surprised. It had been three years after he had first hired her at Shibuya Psychic Research, which was now disbanded. He made an effort to see her still, when he came back to Japan, along with the rest of its members, and they met up and talked every so often until eventually it had become common for them to talk mostly with each other, her flushing when he spoke to her, everyone else giggling and teasing them.

One afternoon they had met up, just the two of them, in his house, and they talked for a while, him telling her more about him than he had really let slip to anyone. She had told him (blushing fiercely) that she had loved him, not his brother, for a long time and he kissed her for the second time ever, but it was just as sweet as the first time, and he held her and realized that because of her he was not who he was three years ago.

It had grown extensively late around then. He asked her to just stay the night, telling her the long trip back to her place would be dangerous at night, and she had managed a mumbled yes before changing into a loose old shirt of his and the shorts she was wearing. She climbed into his bed, per his suggestion, where he told her he would sleep on the large living room couch and to please come to him if she needed anything, but she insisted he stay and talk for awhile.

He was taken aback. "Are you sure? You should probably get some sleep." He said it in his typical condescending tone, but she just rolled her eyes and smiled.

"I'm not all that tired, anyway." He motioned for him to sit down on the opposite side of the bed and he did, still fully dressed and all.

They seemed to have everything to talk about. He opened up slightly more and more as she talked to him, smiled at him, his heart pounding whenever she blushed or told him she loved him. She didn't stop talking until she dozed off mid-sentence, her head drooping down onto his shoulder from her spot. He looked down and saw that he was incapacitated, as she had fallen fully onto him with the sleep, so he carefully laid back , letting her head rest on his chest as the lay silently on the bed. She gave a slight snore, and he smiled, soon drifting off as well.

It was fairly early when he woke up. The sun was shining nicely through the spring air through his windows, and he stirred a little, looking over to find Mai sprawled out next to him, her auburn hair spread across his pillow, her face in a dreamy sort of smile as she slept.

He blinked slowly, wondering why he was imagining this wonderful, awkward girl in pajamas next to him when he remember with a start what had happened the night before. He was surprised for a moment, but when he glanced over at her serene sleeping face, he found himself glad she'd suggested they talk. He let himself smile a little, placing a gentle kiss on her hairline.

He noticed her dreamy smile widened just a little at that.

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By the time he had told her he loved her, she had known for quite a while. They were sitting in a small corner café two months after the day she had fallen asleep at his house. She was laughing over her sweet coffee when he let it slip out of his mouth.

To say he was never adept with words was such a large understatement a whole house could have been filled with the falsity of it. It just came out in a surge of feelings.

"I love you, Mai." When he said it he cringed at his own sentimentality. He had let her crawl under his skin, etch herself in his brain, course through his blood-

"I know," Mai said quietly, and he lifted his face up go meet her gaze. "I love you, too, Naru the Narcissist." She giggled and he smiled back at her, wondering just how he'd managed to get her to love him, and all his flaws, back.


End file.
